Pulsing brakes fixed for good

Like a few other members on this forum, I've had issue with pulsing brakes. Coming to a stop smoothly was difficult due to an on/off sensation under constant light braking. Under firm braking, there was little to no pulsation. My rotors looked fine with no obvious run-out, and the issue seemed to be getting worse over time. This is a brief note on what I tried, and what eventually solved the problem.

1) Cleaning discs with brake cleaner - no change
2) Lubricating the floating rotor contact points ("brake buttons") - no change
3) De-glazing the rotors with scotch-brite pads and brake cleaner - some benefit, still not happy with results
4) Replacing the stock front brake pads with EBC HH pads - 100% resolution of issue, perfect brakes now

I was really concerned that I was going to have to change the front discs to eliminate my issues ($$$), but ultimately a quick pad change was all it took. I'm fairly certain that the stock pads left an uneven deposition of material on the discs that I couldn't fully remove with a de-glazing procedure. The aggressive compound on the EBC HH pads scrubbed this off immediately and left me with smooth braking. Very happy with the results, and wish I had done this sooner!

kuksul08 said:

I actually switched to the EBC V-Pads which are marketed as a cruiser pad. They are a semi metallic pad with much more progressive friction characteristics which helps with that initial brake dive but still gives plenty of stopping power.

Good to see you got it fixed.

My friend with a KTM 1290 actually had to have his wheel replaced because they machined the brake mounting points unevenly. Good thing it wasnt that!

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I had considered those! Ultimately my occasional trips to the track swayed me towards the HH pads. Both are probably a good choice though.